I love my smartphone, but when it comes to to-do lists, bullet journals, diaries and other note taking, I prefer a good old fashioned paper notebook. Putting a pen to paper and watching a notebook become worn as it fills with info, ideas and memories makes me smile. I’m kind of a notebook addict and am always ready to add a new one to my collection. The latest notebook under consideration is the Bull & Stash Travel Stash notebook. Is it good, bad or somewhere in between? Let’s find out.
Bull & Stash offer two notebooks. The Stash which is 5.5″ x 8.75″ and the Travel Stash which they sent to me and is 3.4″ x 6″. The notebook features an oiled leather cover with the Bull & Stash logo stamped into the bottom right corner.
The leather feels great. It is smooth, soft and smells wonderful. But it is easily scuffed and scratched. If you have a problem with imperfect things, you won’t want one of these notebooks. I actually don’t mind leather that is easily marked. I think the more it’s worn, the better it looks. But I can understand why everyone might not share this feeling.
The cover opens and lays flat. There’s a 30 page notebook attached on the right side by two screws that go through the cover.
The screws give the notebook an interesting look. but they create a problem… the pages have to be folded over as you flip them and you can’t open the notebook in the center and expect it to lay flat.
The paper is #60 paper and comes in plain, lined and grid versions. I was sent the lined version. The pages are white with black lines on the front side of the paper. The back side of the paper is blank.
Bull & Stash say that their notebooks are the last ones you’ll ever need because they are refillable. This is true. You can unscrew the screws and add more pages. However, refills are priced at $5 for 50 pages (lined, blank or grid). I suppose you could make your own refills if you have a paper cutter, a hole punch and time.
The paper itself doesn’t feel much different than ordinary copy paper or school notebook paper. How does the paper hold up to ink? I did a basic writing test with a Kaweco AL Sport with a Pilot G2 refill and a Sharpie ultra fine point permanent marker.
As you can see, the Sharpie bled through. Not surprising though.
I like the look of the Bull & Stash Travel Stash notebook, because I love leather. But as a notebook, it’s not something I would personally use because of the way the paper is attached. I like a notebook that can lay flat and stay open on the page I’m working on. You can’t do that with this notebook. If you’re looking for a pocket notebook that you can use for quick notes, the Bull & Stash Travel Stash notebook is obviously suited for that task. It’s just not ideal for a “working” notebook because of the way the pages are attached and the price for the refills.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Bull & Stash. Please visit their site for more info.
Product Information
| Price: | $25.00 |
| Manufacturer: | Bull & Stash |
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I bought that pen bassed off an article you wrote a while back, it took a bit of looking to get it in the uk but it was worth it. I’ve modified a Mont Blanc fineliner refil to fit in it and it is literally the best pen I’ve ever held.
I love that pen and would like buy some other colors. I still like using a Pilot G2 refill, but I might have to try a Mont Blanc now.
You have to do quite a bit of cutting on the Mont Blanc, I pulled the stopper out the end, hack sawed off enough of the cylinder and cut the ink insert down a bit further still, you can pull it right out which makes it easier. Then you trim the stopper down and put it back in. It’s quite a bit of work but you get an awesome pen out of it.
I think the rollerball refil might be a bit shorter than the fine liner, but the fine liner is by far the best refil.
Wow, you must REALLY like Mont Blanc refills. I’ll probably just stick with Pilot G2s if it takes that much effort to retrofit them.